Dragonborn Again
by Hufflepuffle4
Summary: Rei-Quin was an Imperial Legionnaire. Her loyalty was placed in the Empire by her Orc tribe, and she fought for them valiantly. When one Imperial man's choice derails everything she's ever known, Rei-Quin takes revenge. Now her life is in shambles, and she's become a Mercenary in Skyrim's unforgiving landscape. Can she navigate the pain she is facing, and still save the world?


(Author's Note: We all know how the intro went for Skyrim, we don't need to cover it again. So I will skip that, and pick up right after. So I know I have like 12 million unfinished projects adn I shouldn't start a new one but I thought I'M A MASOCHIST WHY THE HELL NOT? I took some time off, unannounced and unplanned, to work on my mental health. I'm in Therapy now, and I have an amazing support system. So I'm working on being okay again. Don't expect regular updates though. Anyone who has read my stories knows not to.)

The silence was unsettling. The Orc woman wasn't wearing her usual armor, but only a ragged tunic and pants. She didn't even have shoes. She only wore foot wraps. Rei-Quin looked ahead of her. There was teh border. HEr chance to escape this hell hole that the damned Nords called Skyrim. She had just passed through Falkreath, and she was so close. Rei-Quin kept her head down. She was a wanted woman. There was a bounty of 1500 septims on her head, because of what she had done.

Quin climbed the mountain, and froze. _Stormcloaks._ They were walking towards the border themselves. Quin crept around them as quietly as she could. They didn't see her, thankfully. The leader looked ahead, adn she could see his face clearly from teh bush she was in. Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm and the leader of the rebellion was looking towards the border of Skyrim. He was speaking to his soldiers, but Quin kept going. All that mattered was escape from this Divines forsaken-

"Imperials!" Someone screamed. A group of Imperial soldiers descended. One of them grabbed Quin from behind. She grunted, and threw the weak man off of her. General Tullis was leading this ambush. Her ambush. Quin had spent months planning this, trying to end the rebellion, then everything _happened._ She grabbed a dagger from the fallen man, and joined in the fight. Many of her comrades were there, people she had trained and fought with.

"Quin!" Someone yelled. The orc kept fighting. "Quin, please, stop this! We're your friends!" She looked up. Her eyes met his, and that was all it took. Another soldier took his sword and slammed the hilt into her head.

Rei-Quin looked up at the sky as she crouched by the rock. Hadvar, a young Imperial solider that she had worked with previously, was crouched in front of her. They waited fearfully as the dragon that had just ravaged Helgen flew away. The pair stood up. HAdvar sighed with relief.

"Looks like he's gone for good this time." He said. "WE better get moving, in case that dragon comes sweeping down again." He turned around, and faced the Orcish woman. Her pale green skin glistened in the morning sunlight as sweat and blood trickled down her face. THe cut on her head from the ambush had stopped bleeding, but it needed attention soon. Her enormous blue eyes gave nothing away of her demeanor, though the Imperial armor she had donned obviously gave the ex-Legionnaire a sense of pride.

"Right." She grunted. Rei-Quin pushed past Hadvar, and stalked down the hill. He followed her, determined to get to his uncle's house.

"Is it true?" He asked, after a few moments of silence. She huffed. "They say you murdered your commander. Is that really what happened?" Hadvar pressed. Rei-Quin turned to face him, and look of rage on her scarred face.

"Yes, I did." She said nothing more. Hadvar followed her in silence to Riverwood. THey stopped and spoke to his Uncle, the orc didn't actually speak much though. She took some supplies, and ducked into the Riverwood trader.

"Well one of us has to do something!" A woman shouted.

"I said no! No theatrics, No thief chasing!" The man said. Rei raised an eyebrow. She walked up to the counter. "Oh... I'm not sure how much you heard-"

"What happened?" She asked. The man seemed flustered, but he wasn't her focus. Out of the corner of her eye, Rei-Quin was sizing up the woman. She was small, obviously a Breton, and angry.

"WE uh- We had a bit of a break in." He scratched the back of his head.

"What was taken?"

"An ornament of solid gold, shaped like a dragon's claw." Rei thought for a moment.

"I have some things to sell, and I need a night of rest, but I'll get it back for you." She promised.

"Really? I've got some coin coming in from my last shipment, it's yours if you bring my claw back." He said. Rei began setting things on the counter. Imperial armor, storm cloak curaisses, damaged swords and more were sold to Lucan. He decided not to question how she got a hold of most this stuff. Rei-Quin nodded to him, and Camilla followed her out of the store.

"So, if you're going to catch those thieves, then you need to head to Bleak Falls Barrow." She began. The orc followed her to the bridge. Camilla stopped, and pointed to the mountain. "It's up there, so be careful."

"So, Camilla, right?" The Orc asked.

"Huh? Oh, yes." She smiled at her. Rei-Quin gave her a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you Camilla." Rei turned around, and headed towards the Inn. She rented a room, and shut the door behind her. She sighed with relief. This day had been the second- no third, worst day of her life. It was nice to just be alone.

AS Hadvar had asked, yes, Rei-Quin had murdered her commander in the Imperial Legion. She stood up, not realizing she had leaned against the door, and ran a hand through her short brown-red hair. It wasn't kept very well. She had fallen out of most of the hygiene routines that the Legion had imposed. She had tried to run after murdering him, but her friends in the Legion stopped her out of concern, as she was covered in blood. Rei-Quin had been known as "Butcher" for a reason on the battlefield.

After they realized what had happened, she fought her way out of the camp, only to be caught in an Imperial ambush with those damned Stormcloaks. They were the reason she had been in Skyrim, why she had been away from her stronghold, and way from... The Orc sighed, and slid a dagger under the pillow, before falling on the bed. If there was one thing she refused to forget, it was what the Legion had done. How had she gone from escaped convict to mercenary _in one day?_ Quin sat up, and sighed. What was happening?

The next morning, Quin departed early from the Inn in Riverwood, and set out towards Bleak Falls Barrow. The climb itself wasn't unpleasant, in fact she welcome the bandits that waited near the top. They would help her warm up for getting this claw back. She donned the hide armor that one of them had worn. If she was going to be a mercenary, she needed to look like one. She got to the Barrow itself, and eliminated the bandits inside and out. She could have turned around and left, but something struck her a curious.

She had cut down Aravel the Swift, and killed him for running. She searched his body and had recovered the Claw, but she had also found his journal. It told of a secret Bleak Falls Barrow held. She shrugged. _Might as well get my money's worth._ She didn't tell anyone what really happened in the Barrow. She didn't understand herself. All that anyone knew was that she came back to Riverwood, battered, but with Lucan's Golden Claw.

Lucan and Camilla stared at her in surprise when she returned. She slammed the claw on the table.

"You found it!" HE laughed with glee. "Funny, it... it seems smaller than I remember. Thank you, thank you!" He handed over 400 septims. She nodded once again. Words were for those who could muster them.

"Wait!" Camilla stood as Quin opened the door. "I...If you ever want to talk to someone, or have a place to sleep, you can come here." She said. Quin turned around.

"I'd like that."


End file.
